Sans Valeur Lyrics in English IAM

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Below, I translated the lyrics of the song Sans Valeur by IAM from French to English.

Violence, racism

Lies, contempt

Fear cascades down

When we find ourselves

At the foot of that waterfall

And find them there again

It means up above they're liars

Contemptuous, anxiety-inducing

Racist and violent

What do you expect

When love and water are missing

Humanity's just mush

For the tracks of tanks

When a man doesn't weigh much

Set on a bank counter

That their schemes are deadlier

Than a finger on a trigger

Your parents taken hostage

Because the bills are heavy

Way too many hungry kids

Because the bills are deaf

And since time's money

And luck's sulking

We cross an emotional desert

Without even a canteen

They play kings while our queens

Shine their desks

I watch them turn my people's lives

Into a statistic on a chart

I've only got my pen to oppose

Their trickery and perversion

Division, that's the goal

Saying it is my mission

Young people tired of their bullsh*t

Have all become predators

Too tense, too much cash at stake

They make steel sing

They go from pupils to executioners way too early

But some choices you pay cash

So it's cell or grave

We didn't live the high life

At the crib, a restaurant once in a while

Humbly, just like when

I let the pen speak

At the time when life and death

Are decided online

I clench my teeth

Because that man killed his reason

The footprints of our fathers are erased

By the man without values

Who's just following the plan

Our mothers' dreams are crushed

Because those sick ones upstairs

Let nothing through but wind

Our brothers' faces are gaunt

Because the colonists would

Like to see them slaving in the fields

Our sisters' jobs are downgraded

Sweat and blood, replaced

In every heart by the wind

Our brothers' faces are gaunt

Because the colonists would

Like to see them slaving in the fields

Our sisters' jobs are downgraded

Sweat and blood, replaced

In every heart by the wind

They come begging me for pardon

Like I was a bishop

And my back carried the weight

Of all their pitiful failures

hold on

These paranoids see godfathers everywhere

And all their heavenly wishes

End up on the floor in an orgy

Disgusting

Every one of my raps sees

My two blades spin

And I silence

The losers who say

those two again

There'll be no announcement

For those on the hot seat

We kill with finesse

And yeah a**hole, that's art

I've seen them treat

A good heart as weakness

Praise appearances

And not the words

To avoid controversy

We chose to keep quiet

And it's taken

As a distress signal

We shot the first verses

In front of the anarchists

The punks and the mohawks

Defended loyalty

In the heart of traitor land

Where there are so many sermons

That it's the country of priests

And the useful slaves play rebels

Holding the masters' whip

I can't even say anymore

Who's taking us for a ride

Except that there are 60 million

Refugees on the raft

Stunned, right after the storm

Everybody wanted to eat

But there were only ten hands

On the cake

I can't do anything about it

That's how the world goes

I've only got my seconds

To love madly

My deep aches

To heal softly

With one hand holding a rose

And the sling in the other

The footprints of our fathers are erased

By the man without values

Who's just following the plan

Our mothers' dreams are crushed

Because those sick ones upstairs

Let nothing through but wind

Our brothers' faces are gaunt

Because the colonists would

Like to see them slaving in the fields

Our sisters' jobs are downgraded

Sweat and blood, replaced

In every heart by the wind

Our brothers' faces are gaunt

Because the colonists would

Like to see them slaving in the fields

Our sisters' jobs are downgraded

Sweat and blood, replaced

In every heart by the wind

Did you like these lyrics?

SONG MEANING

Sans Valeur is IAM’s fiery snapshot of a society caught under a ruthless cascade of violence, racism, lies, and contempt. From corrupt bankers who value profit over people to leaders who stoke fear for gain, the track paints the top of the social waterfall as a place where hearts have frozen and morals have evaporated. Down below, ordinary families struggle with crushing bills, hungry kids, and an “affective desert” that leaves no room for love. In this setting the youth, tired of being fed empty promises, trade schoolbooks for steel, turning into “carnassiers” because the game feels rigged from the start.

Amid the anger, IAM’s narrator clings to his pen as a weapon, vowing to expose the divide-and-conquer tactics that keep communities powerless. The refrain mourns erased legacies, shattered maternal dreams, and exploited workers, yet the final image is defiant: one hand holds a rose, the other a sling. “Sans Valeur” is both lament and battle cry—a call to swap apathy for solidarity, art, and love strong enough to chip away at the stone-cold system above.

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IAM Sans Valeur Lyrics